Food & Drink
We'd like a word...
Danny Jones -15th October 2022
Chicken tikka masala is reportedly no longer Britain’s favourite curry and after finding out what has replaced it, we have decided you all need to be stopped.
Following a study carried out by Foodhub for National Curry Week earlier this month (3–9 October), researchers found that one dish overtook tikka masala as the most ordered curry in the UK. It’s chicken korma, apparently.
We’re not mad, we’re just disappointed and deeply, deeply confused.
For years, chicken tikka masala has been not only Britain’s favourite curry but the UK’s national dish – it’s a classic created by Indian migrants to appeal to the nation’s palate and has done so successfully for decades. We defy anyone to turn their noses up at a chicken tikka.
Now, everyone is entitled to their opinion and we’re not necessarily saying korma is a fundamentally bad curry, but it’s hardly ahead of favourites like a jalfrezi, a rogan josh or Smithy’s beloved bhunas — or so we thought.
ADVERTIsem*nT
In fact, sod it, we side with Smithy’s take on korma:
Emma Stockman, a spokesperson for the food delivery service, said “it is clear that curry is a staple dish when it comes to the UK’s takeaway favourites” and that their findings “did not disappoint”. Which results are you reading, Emma?
ADVERTIsem*nT
As explained, the long-reigning number one, chicken tikka, has dropped to second behind korma and chicken madras rounds off the top three when it comes to Britain’s favourite curry.
Despite us Mancs boasting the world-famous Curry Mile, the stats also supposedly showed that Carlisle was the city that ordered the most curry anywhere in the UK, averaging out at 3.5 times a week.
Meanwhile, 0161 was given the nickname‘Naanchester’ as we apparently order an average of two naan breads per curry compared to other regions, with plain naan being the favourite. Just plain? Come on.
ADVERTIsem*nT
Read more:
- Welcome to the Chorlton bagel shop that makes its own pastrami out back
- Massive golden statue of naked man removed from Wigan car park after complaints
- A Manchester pub is selling pints of cider and lager for £2 — yes, really
If these numbers are to be trusted, this also begs the question as to what this means for the country’s national dish: having been chicken tikka for so long, is now chicken korma? Because we’re absolutely not having that.
Give it to the Sunday roast or fish and chips while you take a step back and look at what you’ve done.
For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester,subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.
Featured Image — @potofgold07 (via Unsplash)
Food & Drink
The best Christmas party food and picky bits at M&S this yearDaisy Jackson
It just wouldn’t be Christmas without all your normal dinners being squashed down into teeny tiny portions and whacked on a buffet table – that’s right, it’s time for this year’s M&S Christmas party food round-up.
The fancy supermarket giant always goes big on picky bits, with elaborate creations that seem to get more odd every year.
Last year there was the obsession with making everything into festive shapes (like clementine-shaped pate, the antipasti wreath, and the garlic doughball Christmas tree).
This year, I think M&S has been on the wine.
You’ll find fridges full of street food style party food, including several creations that have definitely been inspired by a 3am takeaway.
That’s alongside all their usual fancy favourites, with truffle, tiger prawns, and melty cheese all over the place.
While all the supermarkets have loads of space dedicated to their party food selections, we all know M&S is king when it comes to completely excessive creations for the festive season.
And the best bit? It’s all priced on a 4-for-3 offer, so yThe ultimate booze tour around the bars of the Manchester Christmas Marketsou can get a free extra when you buy three items.
Here’s our pick of the best M&S Christmas party food for 2023.
British favourites… but really small
We all know Aunty Sheila loves a quiche – just imagine how her eyes will light up at the sight of a teeny weeny quiche bite.
M&S has got Christmas butternut, sage and and feta mini quiche bites, as well as cheese and bacon bitesize tarts.
Marks and Spencer is also championing the best British food of all time – pie – with a platter of mini pies, filled with chicken leek and bacon, or beef and ale.
And of course there are tiny chicken kyivs too, because who doesn’t want a mouthful of garlic butter and breadcrumbs before their Christmas dinner?
The takeaway-inspired, one-too-many-wines snacks
This section right here is definitive proof, if we ever needed it, that whoever is in charge of M&S’s party food is drunk.
This person has walked into work and slurred ‘I KNOW. Kebab. In pastry. And then salt and pepper chicken… Also in pastry. Yeeeah!’
The result is the sort of party food you’ll actually want to be faced with after hitting it too hard in the pub over Christmas.
There are weeny portions of pulled beef-loaded fries, spring rolls filled with salt and pepper chicken and a dipping pot of Chinese-style curry sauce, Chicken shawarma parcels, and southern fried chicken.
You can also grab M&S’s best-ever prawn toast with a ponzu dipping sauce.
Tiny meats on tiny carbs
Nothing soaks up one too many brandies like a too-big-mouthful of red meat and literally any form of carbohydrate.
So M&S’s Christmas party range has got that covered too, with all sorts of sandwich-inspired meals condensed into nibble-sized buffet snacks.
ADVERTIsem*nT
Do you want pulled beef on top of a potato rosti? They’ve got it. A tiny buttermilk chicken burger? Yep, that’s here too.
What about a very fancy-sounding Italian style meaty Ragu bread with a creamy cheese sauce dolloped on top? Or a mini steak sandwich with caramelised onion and mustard?
The ‘ohh someone’s doing well’
If you’re hosting any sort of gathering over Christmas, you’re probably frantically hoovering the carpets and rearranging your bookshelves to hide the Prince Harry autobiography in favour for something more high-brow.
But if you really want to impress your guests, the answer is surely truffles.
And for some reason when you make party food jet black, you look extra fancy. Enter the truffle arancini from M&S’s collection range, which are filled with mushrooms, vintage cheddar, and finished in a black breadcrumb.
ADVERTIsem*nT
M&S’s three-for-four party food range also has a selection of tiger prawn bites, each one wrapped in a different handmade filling.
There are prawn baguette toasts, prawn and coconut bites, and prawn and potato lattice balls. Very posh.
Say cheeeeeeese
European winters seem to not exist without a huge vat of molten cheese fondue, but that’s not exactly conducive to a stand-up Christmas party buffet.
So, in true Marks & Spencer style, they’ve wrapped a rich blend of cheeses into a crispy coating to create fried fondue bites, which are all melty and delicious in the middle.
And if you just wish your pigs in blankets were a little less oink and a little more fromage, try the cheesy pigs in blankets, where a blend of three cheeses are shaped into sausages and then wrapped in bacon. Because why not?
ADVERTIsem*nT
There’s always one
I don’t know how it happened but these days you’ll find bao all over the damn place.
You can get brunch bao, takeaway bao, dessert bao, and Christmas bao.
For the second year in a row, M&S’s Christmas party range includes a special festive-shaped fluffy bun.
Last year it was reindeer, this year they’ve gone even fancier with snowmen, complete with little red and green beanie hats and orange carrot noses.
Read more
- The ultimate booze tour around the bars of the Manchester Christmas Markets
- The best Christmas light trails in Greater Manchester and beyond
- Tesco has slashed the price of one-litre bottles of Baileys by more than 50%
Featured image: The Manc Group
Food & Drink
MasterChef champion Simon Wood sparks fierce debate after exposing customer who asked for freebiesDaisy Jackson
Simon Wood, former MasterChef champ and owner of Wood in Manchester, has sparked a debate about freebies today.
The celebrated chef has exposed a customer who emailed asking for a ‘complimentary dessert’ to help them mark a special occasion.
Simon has labelled their request as ‘unbelievable…’ as he shared a screenshot of the email in question.
The customer had written to Wood restaurant, on First Street, to ask: “As it’s the first anniversary from me and my husband, would it be possible to give us a good table with a nice view and a maybe a complimentary Dessert? As I want to surprise my partner.”
And Simon has slammed them for ‘trying to scrounge off small businesses’ as he sparked a debate about freebies on social media.
The chef-patron wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Unbelievable…. Free food for celebrations, that’s why we’re here after all….”
Simon later wrote: “Restaurants aren’t here to give things away for free. Pop into McDonald’s and ask for a complementary cheeseburger and see what happens.
“People need to stop trying to scrounge off small businesses.”
— Simon Wood (@SimonJWoodUK) December 15, 2023Unbelievable….
Free food for celebrations, that’s why we’re here after all….
🤯🤷🏻♂️ pic.twitter.com/uFh2D1h1wo
Many people have agreed with Simon Wood, saying it would be ‘unfathomable’ that people would ask for freebies in any other industry.
Others agreed that complimentary extras are always nice but ‘you don’t ask for them’.
But some people think Simon has been too harsh and that the customer has done nothing wrong by at least asking.
On Simon’s side, one person wrote on X: “Nothing wrong in mentioning a celebration and asking for a nice table. But that is where it should stop. If the restaurant then want to treat you to a complimentary surprise then that is up to them.”
Another said: “Imagine this in any other industry. ‘Hi M&S, it’s my birthday! Can I have a free dress’. Unfathomable. To surprise your other half/celebrate, order things from the menu. Support restaurants when they desperately need it. Ensure there’s a place to go for a 2nd anniversary!”
Someone else commented: “I just don’t understand some people. Yes, it is nice to get freebies, but you don’t ask for them!”
And one agreed: “Asking for the table is definitely okay, asking for complimentary stuff is mental.”
But one person said: “Tbf, I’ve had a complimentary dessert served when it was my birthday, it was a lovely touch. To ridicule someone for asking is a bit much.”
Another posted: “They only asked. In the words of my very wise mother: Shy bairns get nowt.”
And someone else went so far as to say: “You’d think they had asked for the whole meal for free lmfao. You stingy a**hole”
What do you reckon? Was the customer in the wrong to ask Simon Wood for a freebie on their anniversary?
Read more
- Alex Batty’s grandmother speaks of ‘relief’ as Oldham boy found six years after going missing
- You can book East 17 to sing their iconic Christmas song on your doorstep (for some reason)
- Legendary late-night Manchester bar The Liars Club is closing after more than a decade of tiki
Featured image: Wood Manchester
Alright, buckle up, because we're diving into the world of British curry preferences, and it seems chicken tikka masala is facing a formidable rival—chicken korma. Now, the evidence here is pretty solid, backed by a study conducted by Foodhub during National Curry Week in October 2022. According to their findings, chicken korma has claimed the crown as the most ordered curry in the UK, dethroning the long-reigning favorite, chicken tikka masala.
Now, before you start protesting, let's analyze some key concepts and reactions in this culinary saga. Chicken tikka masala, a classic crafted by Indian migrants to cater to the British palate, has held the title of Britain’s favorite curry for years. Its drop to the second spot is causing confusion and, dare I say, disappointment. The study also reveals that chicken madras secures the third position in the hierarchy of Britain's curry choices.
Interestingly, the study doesn't just stop at curry preferences; it delves into regional nuances. While Manchester, or should I say 'Naanchester,' orders an average of two naan breads per curry (plain naan being the favorite), Carlisle emerges as the city with the highest curry consumption in the UK, averaging 3.5 orders per week.
Now, let's switch gears and explore a different flavor—Christmas party food from M&S. The article provides a tantalizing glimpse into the festive culinary offerings, ranging from tiny British favorites like quiches and mini pies to exotic takeaway-inspired treats. There's even a section on the fancier side with truffle arancini and tiger prawn bites. M&S seems to be going all out with a 4-for-3 offer, making the indulgence even more tempting.
Finally, we witness a culinary controversy stirred by none other than MasterChef champion Simon Wood. He exposes a customer's audacious request for a complimentary dessert to celebrate their first anniversary at Wood in Manchester. Simon's response, shared on social media, sparks a debate on the appropriateness of asking for freebies in the restaurant industry.
In summary, this article takes us on a flavorful journey—from the changing landscape of Britain's curry preferences to the festive extravagance of M&S Christmas party food and the ethical dilemma of seeking complimentary treats in the culinary world. Quite the gastronomic rollercoaster!
